Paragon says it canceled contracts with Italy over government’s refusal to investigate spyware attack on journalist

The PARAGON ESPION software manufacturer accused the Italian government of refusing their help to investigate if a journalist was spied on with his technology, according to a statement.

In the declaration Reported for the first time by HaaretzParagon said it was this refusal that prompted the company to reduce links with its Italian government customers.

“The company offered the Italian government and Parliament to determine whether its system had been used against the journalist in violation of Italian law and contractual terms,” ​​the statement said. “While the Italian authorities have chosen not to continue this solution, Paragon terminated its contracts in Italy.”

Paragon confirmed to Techcrunch that the declaration was exact. After Techcrunch contacted Paragon Executive President John Fleming, for comments, Emily Horne, who works for Westexec advisers, replied by saying that the company “referred to all media issues” to the declarations of Haaretz’s article.

This is the first time that a supplier of spy software has publicly declared that it has reduced links with a specific customer after abuse reports.

The accusation of the spy software manufacturer is the last touch of a scandal that broke out in January, when WhatsApp revealed a mass campaign targeting its users. The messaging giant said that he had alerted about 90 users that they had been targeted with spy software manufactured by Paragon, a company co -founded by the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (photo). Paragon, contract With American immigration and customs application, has marketed in the United States and Europe as a more responsible supplier compared to its predecessors in industry.

Francesco Cancellato, director of the Fanpage Information Website who was the first person to come forward by saying that he received the notification of WhatsAppis the journalist to whom Paragon refers to in the declaration.

Paragon’s declaration is a response to a report Posted last week by an Italian parliamentary committee known as Copasir, which investigated the spy software scandal in the country. The Committee concluded that there was no evidence that Canceltato had been a target of the two Italian, Aisi and Aise intelligence agencies, which it confirmed was paragon customers.

A few hours after Haaretz published the Paragon Declaration, the Italian government postponed the remarks of Paragon, claiming that the decision to suspend first and then terminate the contract with Paragon was mutual, according to unnamed sources Cited by Italian News Wire Ansa.

The sources would also have declared that the Ministry of Information for Security (Say), the organization of the Italian government supervising ease and AISI, refused paragon help to verify the newspapers on agency graphite software systems, as this would have exposed confidential data to a private foreign company and compromised national security. Allowing Paragon to help, according to sources, compromise the reputation of Italian intelligence agencies among its international peers.

Copasir and the Italian government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, did not respond to requests for comments from Techcrunch.

Canceltato responded to the Paragon Declaration In a video published on fan page. “Who is lying in this story?” Copasir or paragon? ” He said.

“To find out, all we have to do is ask Paragon to say officially who spied on fanpages. They said they could discover it? We want them to tell us once and for all,” said Canceltato.

At the end of April, the Ciro Pellegrino fanpage journalist said he had received an Apple notification that it had been targeted with government -spy software. Copasir’s investigation did not mention the case of Pellegrino.

Copasir, on the other hand, confirmed that other victims of Pangon spy software were legally targeted, including Luca Casarini And Ben Cacciawho works for the Italian non -profit organization Mediterranea saving humanswhich saves immigrants who try to cross the Mediterranean Sea, and David Yambiothe president and co-founder of Refugees in LibyaAn active non -governmental organization in Italy.

All, said Copasir, were legally investigated for their activities related to alleged illegal immigration.

On the other hand, Copasir concluded that there was no proof of surveillance against Mattia FerrariA priest who works on the Mediterranea rescue ship saving humans, who has also received a notification from WhatsApp.

In a Declaration to Ansa Copassir said on Monday that he was willing to declass the content of the hearing he was holding with representatives of Paragon on April 9 to defend his work in the investigation. The press release indicates that Copassir was surprised by the Paragon Declaration.